The Hatter Rises
by Windrises
Summary: A version of The Wind Rises starring Tarrant and Alice.


Notes: This story is based on the Hayo Mayazaki/Studio Ghibli film, The Wind Rises which is where my username comes from. This story was written for both Fanpop and this website. The characters are from Johnny Depp's Alice in Wonderland films which are owned by Disney and based on books by Lewis Carroll.

Tarrant Hightopp, the Hatter, loved hats. He lived in Underland. He had a clown face. He wanted to become a hat designer. He said, "I want to become a good hatter like my dad." One night he stared at the sky, imagining a sky full of hats. He suddenly had a dream where he was in a hat filled area. Most people were weirded out to have such a dream, but it was actually more normal than a majority of Tarrant's other dreams.

Zanik Hightopp looked at his son and said, "Tarrant, what are you doing in my dream?"

Tarrant replied, "This is my dream too."

Zanik asked, "So you want to design hats too?"

Tarrant said, "Yes please."

Zanik said, "Remember that hats aren't for war or for money. Hats are a beautiful dream. Hatters bring dreams to life."

Tarrant asked, "So I can be a hatter?"

Zanik said, "Of course you can."

Years later Tarrant was a young adult on a train ride to his college. While there Tarrant met a young girl named Alice Kingsleigh. Tarrant's favorite hat got blown by the wind. Alice caught the hat and handed it to Tarrant. Tarrant said, "Thank you."

Alice smiled and said, "You're welcome."

Tarrant said, "The hats are rising. We must try to keep them on our heads."

A short time later a earthquake happened. Alice's guardian, Mallymkun, the Dormouse, had a injured leg. Tarrant saw what happened and volunteered to take her home.

Tarrant said, "Mam, don't worry. I'll get you home." Tarrant carried Mallymkun to her home. Alice carried Tarrant's suitcase.

Alice said "Thank you for saving her."

Tarrant replied, "You're welcome."

Alice asked, "What's in your heavy suitcase?"

Tarrant said, "One hundred tea cups. Well, I better get going. Fairfarren."

Years later Tarrant and his best friend Thackery, the March Hare, graduated from college. Tarrant was a cheerful person, but Thackery was grumpy. They got jobs working at a hat company. Sadly this was during the war and hats were being used for the war.

Tarrant turned out to be a better hat designer than anybody else. Tarrant constantly had visions which he used for hat designs. He said, "Bosses, what do you think of my work?"

The scond in charge of the hat company, Hamish Ascot, said, "These designs aren't what I asked for."

The first in charge, Mirana, the White Queen, said, "This is better than what we wanted and expected. Good job."

Tarrant said, "Thank you."

Hamish reluctantly said, "Congratulations."

1 of Tarrant's hat ideas got created. The hat was tested to find out if it could fly in the air. Mirana said, "The hat is flying."

Hamish said, "Well, so far it is."

A minute later the hat fell. Tarrant was upset that the hat crashed to the ground.

Tarrant nervously smiled and said, "That's not good."

Mirana said, "The design was good, but the end result wasn't."

Hamish said, "Which is why you and the hare are being sent to Wonderland to study hat designs."

Tarrant and Thackery went to Wonderland. Tarrant said, "This is exciting."

Thackery said, "It would be better if the sneaky people of Wonderland actually let us look at the hats closely enough." The guards made sure that Tarrant and Thackery got to look at a minimal amount of hats.

Thackery got a little stressed out and asked, "Are we allowed to look at any of the hats?"

One of the guards sternly said, "You can only look at the mediocre hat."

Tarrant was optimistic, but Thackery wasn't. Tarrant and Thackery went to a hotel and talked about their progress. Tarrant said, "This isn't too bad."

Thackery replied, "Actually, it's bad."

Tarrant said, "But we got to see some of Wonderland's hats."

Thackery said, "The people of Wonderland won't let us find out how to make the same quality of hats. This is a useless effort."

Tarrant had an optimistic look on his face while asking, "Don't you think you should be happier?"

Thackery replied, "Nah."

Tarrant was sent back to Underland. Tarrant had another dream where Zanik returned. Tarrant said, "Hi dad."

Zanik asked, "Are the hats still rising?"

Tarrant said, "They sure are."

Zanik said, "Excellent."

Tarrant said, "Actually my job is falling apart. Underland is behind when it comes to hats. The people of Wonderland are beating us."

Zanik said, "Son, you have what they don't: creativity. Creativity outranks all fancy new hat materials."

Tarrant said, "You're right."

Zanik said "Artists have a decade to shine. We hatters are no different. Live your decade well."

Mirana wanted Tarrant to recover from the hat crash so Tarrant spent some time at a hotel.

Tarrant walked outside where a now grown up Alice Kingsleigh was. Alice was a painter. Alice's umbrella got blown by the wind, but Tarrant caught it.

Alice's dad, Charles Kingsleigh, said "Thank you for saving the umbrella."

Tarrant said "You're welcome."

Alice looked at Tarrant and said, "That man looks familiar."

Charles replied, "He looks eccentric, but seems nice."

The next day Tarrant paced around outside and found Alice. Tarrant said, "Hi."

Alice replied, "It's you. I remember you."

Tarrant paused and asked, "Have we seen each other in the past?"

Alice answered, "You saved Mally years ago. She and I were so thankful for your kindness during the earthquake."

Tarrant smiled said, "It's good to see you again."

Tarrant and Alice walked together. It was raining. Tarrant shook his fist at the rain and said, "This rain better not ruin my hat."

Alice said, "You were pretty much a hero to me and Mally."

Tarrant asked, "Really?"

Alice said, "Of course. She would of died in the earthquake if you weren't there. I'm surprised that you would work hard to save somebody that you don't know."

Tarrant said, "You never need to know to help." Tarrant and Alice smiled at each other.

The next night Alice was sick so Tarrant didn't get to visit her. He was slightly sad about that. He stayed in his hotel room and worked on some hats.

The next day Tarrant made a paper hat and threw it to Alice. Tarrant said, "Wanna play catch with hats?"

Alice smiled and said, "That idea is mad, bonkers, but all the best ideas are." Alice threw the hat back to Tarrant. Tarrant caught it.

Tarrant and Alice kept throwing hats to each other. It was lots of fun. Tarrant realized that he had fallen in love with Alice. He might even love her more than hats. Alice's hat fell off her head. Tarrant caught her hat. Even though it was a hat for girls Tarrant put the hat on. Alice giggled.

The next day Tarrant was in the dinging room with Charles Kingsleigh. Tarrant said, "Before I came to your hotel I was lonely, but now I'm happy, because I have a true love."

Charles asked, "Are you in love with Alice?"

Tarrant said,"Yep. I wanna be with her forever. Is that okay?"

Charles thought about it and said, "I'm not sure what to say."

Alice said "I hope you say yes."

Tarrant said, "Alice, I love you."

Alice said, "I love you."

Tarrant asked, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Alice said, "Of course. I've loved you since the day your hat brought you to me." Tarrant and Alice blushed at each other and kissed.

Alice moved to Underland in a house that was only a few miles away from Tarrant. Tarrant was excited to spend more time with Alice, but his job kept him busy.

Tarrant said, "Thackery, how's your hats?"

Thackery said, "Terrible. It's a disaster."

Tarrant said, "Oh. Good luck."

Thackery replied, "You too."

Tarrant was enjoying his hat, but he knew that Alice was feeling lost without him and he missed her a lot. He had a meeting with Hamish about it. He said, "Boss, my girlfriend misses me."

Hamish said, "Too bad. We're close to making your dream hat. No time for romance."

Tarrant said, "You're sadly right."

Hamish kept Tarrant busy for a week. After all that Tarrant visited Alice. Tarrant said, "Alice, I'm sorry that I've been gone."

Alice said, "Don't worry about it."

Tarrant asked, "Are you still sick?"

Alice said, "Hardly."

Tarrant handed Alice a cup and said, "Here's some tea: the best cure in all of Underland."

Alice said, "The tea tastes kind of weird."

Tarrant said, "Oh. That's the expired tea."

Alice asked, "Why do you have expire tea?"

Tarrant said, "It's for the Cheshire Cat.

Tarrant worked hard several days while Alice waited for him to visit her. Finally he got his big war hat ready. Tarrant presented it to his co-workers while his bosses watched. Tarrant said, "We're going to knock the hats off our enemies and I'm mad enough to be mean that in a literal sense. There won't be a single hat on the heads of our enemies after they get defeated by this hat."

Mirana said, "It's a eccentric hat."

Hamish said, "It's fantastic."

Poor Alice was tired of spending her days alone so she went to Tarrant's house. Alice said, "I dislike bothering you, but I missed you."

Tarrant replied, "I missed you too. After my war hat is finished we'll be together always."

A week later Tarrant's war hats were ready to be used for the hat war. Tarrant tried to focus on the hats, but he was distracted by how much he missed Alice.

Hamish said, "The hats are ready."

Mirana said, "Congratulations."

Tarrant said, "Oh." He paused and said, "Thank you."

All of Tarrant's hats got destroyed during the war, but Tarrant had something more important to deal with. Tarrant visited Alice. He said "Hi."

Alice had a concerned look on her while saying, "I heard what happened to your hats. You must be so sad."

Tarrant said, "Not at all."

Alice asked, "Are you sure?"

Tarrant said, "Alice during my life I've had 2 loves: the work love and you. I lost one love, but my true love is alive and that's all I need to be happy." Alice kissed Tarrant. The romantic hats of the wind continued to rise whenever Tarrant and Alice were together.


End file.
